Earl

Well I missed the fun for sure. So one engine shop (Mattituck) will require Camguard to maintain their warranty. What's the big deal? If you don't like the product go to another shop and get your overhaul. As for me, I had a problem with sticking valves, added Camguard at the recommendation of my A&P and have not had a problem in the last 300 hours. It is not very expensive and in my experience works. And by the way, my engine was overhauled by Mattituck by the previous owner. Maybe they have seen enough issues like mine go away with Camguard to justify the decision.

So I get to Flying Cloud Airport and saw a plane that looked like mine with full fuel tanks but when I got in there were no fuel odors so I thought I was in someone else's Mooney. :-) After a few minutes I realized it was actually mine. Ahhhhhhhhh......... And the weather karma was with me as I had my return flight scheduled for today from over a month ago and the weather was nearly perfect. Filed for 13,000 feet and never saw ground speeds below 200 kts until I began my descent into Atlanta. Took 4 hours to get back and the ride was smooth until I got back and below 5,000 feet and it got really bumpy. Very windy landing and not my best but back safe and sound. Thanks to Paul for the great workmanship and Eric for getting the plane safely back and forth from Willmar to KFCM! Here's hoping it is the last big expense for this year. [knock on my wooden head].

What I like about the video is it shows the best possible t-storm avoidance tool, the eyes. Even with XM and stormscope I try to stay visual if at all possible when convective activity is around. If not, my margin around them becomes even higher than 20-25nm. I always prefer the electronics to confirm what I am seeing. Being in IMC with embedded t-storms is a recipe for potential disaster.

I dropped the plane off on February 27th and it will be done early next week but I delivered early due to my own schedule. However, the project only takes 2 1/2 weeks so if you can drop it off right before they start and pick it up right after that's all the time it takes.

Very good point about the cost as my Mooney is a 252 so it is higher. As for spreading out the cost, I considered it but I live in Georgia and decided to do it in one fell swoop so it only took one set of frequent flyer miles and fuel costs. I just waited until I had the cash reserved for the project. Of course I got hit with a more expensive than usual annual at the same time. Doh!! Why does it always work out that way?!?!?

Sure, not exactly a state secret. He charges $4,450 per side or $8,900 for both. Again, this is not a project you do until it needs to be done. I tried the patch route and as quickly as you eliminate one leak for $1K or more another springs up. Doesn't take long to figure out that its only worth doing it right. By the way, WetWingoligists in Florida charges the same price. Both come with a good warranty although Wetwingoligists is 7 years versus WeepNoMore's 5 years. Both have a good reputation. When I started to have problems I had innumerable folks tell me to get it done right the first time. I wish I had taken their advice but I simply did not have the cash at the time. Been saving up since my patch job and finally pulled the trigger.

Check with LASAR in California to see if they have the part.

And here are the pictures of the reseal after top coat, including the ones where the inspection panels were resealed. No more drip, drip, drip.

And here are some pix with the sealant prior to top coating.

Here are some pix with the tank cleaned.

OK, so here are some pix from Paul.

Delivered. What a trip. Intended to leave at 7am to get a head start with the headwinds. So the best laid plans of mice and men. Started to taxi and noticed the brakes were sluggish to start working and slow to come off and it was only 24 degF. Took the plane over to H&L and they bled some old, nasty hydraulic fluid out of the lines and it worked perfectly. Unfortunately it got me going an hour and a half late. Planned the flight at 8,000 and agreed to 10,000 for traffic. Not a good idea as headwinds were brutal at 10K. Saw ground speeds as low as 103 kts.......thought I was in a 172 instead of a Mooney. Ugh! Was able to get back to 8,000 once traffic cleared but only saw ground speeds in the 115-120 kt range. Still slow going for a 850 nm trip. Changed my fuel stop from Taylorville to Springfield due to winds 34014G20 which was much easier with Rwy 31 at KSPI than the east-west runway at Taylorville. Once I passed the front the headwinds eased a bit but sadly that was just south of Springfield. Because of the late start I turned what I had assumed would be an hour fuel stop to a 20 minute bio break and adding 50 gallons of fuel. Kudos to the Horizon Air FBO. Friendly and quick. Then off to Willmar, now only an hour behind schedule. Filed for 6,000 feet and winds were much less than so I was able to make 140 kts and got to Willmar from KSPI in about 2.4 hours. And man was it cold. OAT was -20degC at 6,000 feet. My heater could not keep up and thankfully I had a sleeping bag for emergencies and draped it over me. So as I announced myself on the KBDH unicom my ride to Minneapolis to leave the engine running so he could jump in. That was a surprise that he was flying my Mooney back to Willmar. I had planned the trip to have limited fuel when I landed in Willmar. Fortunately when I refueled in KSPI I added 10 extra gallons expecting the stronger headwinds so I had enough to get me to Minneapolis and Eric to get the Mooney back to Willmar. Have asked Paul for lots of pictures and I will post as he sends them. Will I miss the scent of fuel when I open the door to the plane? Not likely!

Kris. Les coordinate when I get the plane back.

I know but I prefer having someone IFR rated as a safety pilot. I like the critical eye that understands what is supposed to happen and can provide additional feedback that someone that is not IFR rated may not recognize. Just a personal preference and not a requirement.

Thanks! Should be interesting as I was updating fltplan.com and with today's headwinds it would be closer to an 8 hour trip. Should be more civilized when I go on Thursday and the weather will be CAVU if cold. Just curious, who do you have do your maintenance on your Mooney? I use H&L and have been pretty happy with them. Have also used Joey Cole for some specialty work (i.e., he installed my EDM-730). Also, just curious if you are IFR rated. I fly approaches with Dave Theisen but would like to find a safety pilot for those times when he is unavailable.

Finally got the Mooney out of annual and had a few items that delayed me and cost a little time and money to fix (gear box overhaul and repair of my airbox by LASAR as well as the annual itself). Now on Thursday it is the trek into the cold, white north to drop the plane off to have the tanks resealed. My plan is to fly from KRYY (Kennesaw, GA) to KTAZ (Taylorville, IL) for a fuel stop and a bio break. Looks like a little less than 3 hours unless the winds change. Then KTAZ to KBDH which is another 3 hours. Plan to land in Willmar around 2pm or so with hopefully an hour of fuel in the tanks. If the headwinds were not forecast at 20 kts I could make it in one shot but with the coming polar vortex it will be not only cold but I will be flying right into the teeth of the winds. Then catch a quick ride over to MSP and a flight back to Atlanta. If all goes as planned it will be a long day but I am really looking forward to seeing the fuel I put in the tanks stay in the tanks and being able to top the plane off when I get somewhere instead of waiting until I leave to avoid the loss (yes, I am that cheap). Weather should be good all the way with only the cold when I land in Minnesota being uncivilized. High is forecast to be -4degF. That is just too cold for this damn Yankee.

I started using Camguard when my engine had about 400SMOH and had a sticky valve at the annual. Nary a problem with sticking valves since then and my compressions are staying pretty stable. For the cost it seems to me like a no brainer.

While my wife is not a big fan of GA she knows that I practice conservative risk management decision making and fortunately for me, she is a scientist and understands what I mean. If you break down all GA accidents you can easily eliminate a lot of risk. For example, almost every flight I take is on an IFR flight plan. This eliminates the risk of inadvertent VFR into IMC which is a big contributor to fatal accidents. A certain percentage of accidents (and an even higher percentage of fatalities) occur at night. I no longer fly at night (VFR or IFR) and have eliminated that portion of the risk (I obviously do not eliminate the risk of the hours as they happen to occur during the day, just the excess risk from night operation). I also have other personal minimums that eliminate risk such as no departure from an airport below IFR minimums for the available approaches, leaving at least 1 hour of fuel on board at my intended destination instead of 45 minutes and so on. When I explained all this to her she recognized the residual risk that remained and is comfortable with it and flies with me regularly. But again, she is a scientist and can evaluate the situation more rationally. If you are talking pure emotion there is not much you can do except to let time and experience be the teacher.

I am fighting the urge to respond to this post........don't do it.........leave it alone.........

Actually the guys in Florida are Wetwingologists and the PIREP on them is also fairly good and their warranty is 7 years versus 5 years by Weepnomore. Both stand behind their work as best I can tell from the comments I have seen. I think the main difference between the two is the technique they use to strip the old sealant but I am not positive. When you look at the pictures of completed work they look identical to me. Both charge $4,450 per wing and ask for 2-3 weeks to get the job done. I selected Weepnomore primarily because I have never seen a negative comment about them and they can accommodate my schedule. Not looking forward to the flight up there in the late winter but can't wait to get this behind me. Can't comment on the bladder opponents although the two common themes I have seen is the lost useful load and concern about corrosion from moisture stuck under the bladder.

Uh oh......I will stand aside and let the debate begin.........the good news for me is I am pretty sure bladders are not an option for the 252 so I can sit by and watch the debate rage.

Last year I had my right tank patched which has worked fairly well so far but now my left tank is leaking worse and I am pretty much tired of the issue so I am on the schedule with WeepNoMore for the first week in March. For those of you that told me to quit screwing around and get it done right I accept all "I told you so" comments. I plan to keep this plane for a long time and constantly fighting leaks in tanks just doesn't appeal to me. I want to fill them up when I land and still have the fuel in them when I get back to the airport and not have the whiff of avgas when I open the plane up.

I bought my Mooney out of coastal Florida and it was corrosion free. Was always hangared which may be the key. I looked at the plane and the engine was top overhauled ~700 hours ago so it might fly well beyond TBO (see Mike Busch's articles on TBO). It definitely looks OEM top to bottom and there was no mention of NDH so there may be some damage history. One thing for sure, if it really is a good deal it won't last long at that price. If it's a dog, it will still be there in 3 months.

My response was more psychological than analytical. I much prefer that the last words of the guy flying the plane to be "oh @!^*%#" than "Dang, that's going to be a lot of paperwork". There is something comforting to me knowing that the guy driving the bus is also the first one to the scene of the accident and has pretty much the same thing invested in a safe and uneventful outcome as me. And driverless trains are a whole different ballgame compared to driverless (at least on board) aircraft. No thanks.......

I had not heard he was moving. Too bad as I often do my practice approaches at Rome and found it comforting to know if I had a mechanical issue I could put the plane down there and have him look at it. Strangely enough, Dalton is better if I need to have someone pick me and is only 10nm further for me to fly than Rome. Just looked and KDNN has an ILS and an RNAV with vertical guidance. Looks like my new favorite place to practice approaches.